Written Answers

Thursday 14 September 2000

Scottish Executive

Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Bill

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to consult on the implementation of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have today published for consultation the following documents:

  Draft codes of practice for Attorneys appointed under Part 2

  Withdrawers authorised under Part 3

  Local authorities

  Draft regulations on Certificates in relation to powers of attorney under sections 15(3)(c) and 16(3)(c)

  Countersignatories of applications for authority to intromit under section 26(1)(c).

  Local authority supervision under section 10(3)

  Guidance note on completion of certificates under section 15(3)(c) or 16(3)(c).

  Copies are being circulated to all the organisations on our consultation list in relation to Adults with Incapacity. The documents can also be read and downloaded from our website:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/justice/incapacity.

  The consultation period will last for three months.

  We will shortly publish a draft code of practice for interveners and guardians, draft regulations related to aspects of guardianship, a draft code of practice on medical treatment and draft regulations prescribing certificates of incapacity. Draft regulations for the medical treatments which require safeguards and proposals for those safeguards will be published once the views of the Millan Committee are published later this year. We will allow the full three months for consultation responses on these documents also.

Agriculture

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance it plans to offer to farmers wishing to convert their land to organic production.

Ross Finnie: Payments totalling a maximum of £157,900 over five years are available under the Organic Aid Scheme to farmers wishing to convert their land to organic production methods. Total payments under the scheme in 1999-2000 amounted to £1.2 million.

Agriculture

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making with its investigation into how the electronic identification of cattle and electronic data transfer might be introduced.

Ross Finnie: I am pleased to report good progress on these issues. The census date for the identification of all bovines in Scotland was last weekend and the process of cleaning up this data and entering on to the Cattle Traceability System (CTS) database has started. The aim is for completion by end-December 2000. I very much welcome the industry-wide support given to this exercise particularly at such a busy time.

  Once completed this will provide a computerised record of all bovines in Scotland with unique identification numbers – which is the starting point for a fully electronic system.

  I announced on 22 June a short consultancy to identify the industry’s key data requirements and I have today put a copy of the final report into SPICe. It identifies industry key data requirement and also the arrangements necessary to allow electronic access to the CTS database. I am pleased to report that access systems, consistent with those recommended in the report, are already under development. I will be able to announce introduction of the new system within the next few months.

  In parallel, work has been progressing on electronic identification. So far this has concentrated on detailed technical aspects of the systems themselves, to ensure that workable and durable arrangements are identified. Again I will be able to make an announcement about these arrangements within the next few months.

Beef

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to remove the 90 head limit on claims under the Beef Special Premium Scheme.

Ross Finnie: My department will be consulting relevant industry organisations on the issue in the very near future. Any subsequent changes to the current arrangements which may be required will be made on a GB basis.

Breastfeeding

Dr Richard Simpson (Ochil) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken by the NHS management executive to performance manage health boards in order to increase the number of women commencing breastfeeding from 48% towards the 62% level in England and Wales.

Susan Deacon: Child and maternal health are high on our priorities and this is reflected in the planning guidance to the NHS in Scotland. The Executive is actively supporting a range of measures to encourage and support breastfeeding and has recently published a Code of Practice for Employers. Further information is available on http://www.nhsis.uk/breastfeed/ .

Children

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the demand for secure unit places for children exceeds the number of places available.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Demand for secure places can exceed supply from time to time although that does not necessarily mean that provision overall is inadequate. I have asked the Secure Accommodation Advisory Group chaired by Sally Kuenssberg, Chairman of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, to consider supply and demand issues as part of its remit.

Conservation

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the consultation process before any further special areas of conservation are declared.

Sarah Boyack: There are no plans to change current consultation procedures. Scottish Natural Heritage undertake full consultation on behalf of Scottish Ministers with owners, occupiers and other interested parties for all sites proposed as Special Areas of Conservation.

Culture

Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its National Cultural Strategy will assist in combating social exclusion.

Rhona Brankin: The National Cultural Strategy set out as one of its strategic objectives to realise culture’s contribution to promoting inclusion and identified a series of actions to further that objective.

Culture

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in establishing a national theatre company.

Rhona Brankin: We announced in the National Cultural Strategy, our intention to conduct a feasibility study on proposals for a national theatre company for Scotland.

Dental Care

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to tackle the levels of dental disease among children in the Greater Glasgow Health Board Area.

Susan Deacon: Greater Glasgow Health Board/Primary Care Trust have a number of local measures in place to improve the oral health of children e.g. the Possilpark Pre-5 Programme. In addition, the Scottish Executive published on 18 August An Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland . The action plan outlines a number of initiatives to improve the dental health of the people of Scotland, particularly children.

Enterprise

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to find an occupant for the former site of the Volvo bus and truck manufacturing plant in Irvine since its closure.

Henry McLeish: Officials from the Executive, Locate in Scotland, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire and North Ayrshire Council continue to work together to identify future options for the Volvo site at Irvine. Consultants have been appointed to work up a master plan for the site which will be completed by the end of October.

European Funding

Allan Wilson (Cunninghame North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the special funding package for the Highlands and Islands approved by the European Commission will improve this region.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Highlands & Islands Special Transitional Programme will provide for around £200 million of Structural Funding together with over £500 million from national public and private resources over the next seven years.

  The funds will be used to support our vision of a Highlands and Islands which is "prosperous, inclusive and with self sustaining communities where the unique cultures, traditions and environments are enhanced" by, for example, stimulating job creation, supporting business and investing in training.

Exam Results

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it or anyone acting on its behalf approached the bodies in England responsible for awarding "A" level results to ask whether the English bodies would delay release of their results and, if so, who made the approach, on what date, and what response was received, and whether it consulted Her Majesty’s Government before any such approach was made.

Mr Sam Galbraith: No.

Fisheries

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to help the scallop industry.

Mr John Home Robertson: I have already made provision for a licence relaxation to allow a number of Category C licensed scallop vessels to fish for west coast nephrops.

  I have also given an undertaking that resources will be available from the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) to assist with suitable projects within the scallop industry. I have sought to encourage the industry to develop projects, principally in the areas of diversification or market/product development.

Fuel

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide liquefied petroleum gas outlets in rural areas other than in the Highlands and Islands.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The Executive’s Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme provides a source of funding to rural petrol station proprietors to enable them to install LPG tanks and dispensers. Outwith the Highlands and Islands the scheme is administered by Scottish Enterprise through its Local Enterprise Company network and applications in the first instance should be made to the Local Enterprise Company.

Genetically Modified Crops

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive who is liable should genetically modified (GM) crop material from GM crop sites damage neighbouring farms or local biodiversity.

Ross Finnie: There are currently no provisions in Scots or UK law covering liability for damage caused specifically by genetically modified organisms. The ability of an individual to secure compensation for damage allegedly caused by GMO releases has not been tested in the courts. However, under the terms of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, there are powers to prosecute the consent holder where the limitations and conditions attached to a deliberate release consent are breached.

  The Scottish Executive’s main priority is to protect human health and the environment. The farm scale trials are the latest in a comprehensive series of risk assessments designed to tell us what impact, if any, the management of GM crops will have on the environment and biodiversity.

Health

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with Forth Valley Health Board and Tayside Health Board over the reshaping of the National Health Service in their areas.

Susan Deacon: The planning and delivery of health services is a matter primarily for health boards and Trusts. I can confirm, however, that the Scottish Executive meets regularly with health boards – including Forth Valley and Tayside – to learn of their proposals for improving services for patients.

Health

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow GPs to charge patients for appointments.

Susan Deacon: There are no plans for such charges. We remain committed to a National Health Service which is free at the point of delivery.

Housing

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that adequate, comfortable and appropriate housing will be available to cope with the predicted rise in the percentage of the population made up of older people.

Mr Frank McAveety: Local authorities have resources at their disposal to meet the housing needs of all Scotland’s population, including older people. Total resources of around £345 million are available this year for capital expenditure on local authority housing stock. In addition, Scottish Homes will invest over £206 million this year on 6,000 new and improved houses across Scotland to meet housing needs, including those of older people.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, regarding its proposals for the Housing Bill published in Better Homes for Scotland’s Communities , which categories of charitable housing association will be exempt and which will not be exempt from the right to buy if the exemptions for charitable housing associations remain on the same basis as stated on page 24 of that document.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Better Homes for Scotland’s Communities envisages that the current legislative provisions, as set out in section 63(1)(e) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, would continue to apply. This provides that all housing associations who had claimed and been granted the special tax exemption for charities prior to 14 November 1985 or from the date of first being registered if this is later than this date, are exempt from the right to buy. In addition, the exemption from the right to buy applies if the rules of the housing association in force before 14 November 1985 or the date of first registration (whichever is later), would have entitled the landlord to the tax exemption if it had been claimed.

Information Technology

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the First Minister what steps are being taken to use new technologies in promoting social and digital inclusion.

Donald Dewar: Earlier today, I launched the Executive’s wide-ranging plans for creating a Digital Scotland. I stressed that above all there must be digital inclusion to ensure that everyone in Scotland benefits. Much work is already underway: providing access to computers and the web in libraries and community cybercafes; 80% discounts on the costs of basic courses in computers; and learndirect scotland , to be launched next month, will make it easier to access learning for ICT skills.

Medical Training

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to retain undergraduate orthoptic degree courses.

Susan Deacon: I have invited a number of universities in Scotland (including Glasgow Caledonian University, where orthoptic education finished this summer) to consider launching a course in orthoptics from within the normal Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) arrangements. We will be having further discussions with those who have expressed an interest.

  I have assured the universities that the Scottish Executive Health Department will be pleased to assist them in securing course approval and ensuring that clinical placements are available to them at no cost regardless of their location in the UK.

Multiple Sclerosis

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make Copaxone available to multiple sclerosis patients through the NHS.

Susan Deacon: Copaxone (Glatiramer) has been recently licensed for use in the treatment of certain patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. It is a matter for each health board to determine its prescribing policy on drugs, taking into account advice from local Drug and Therapeutics Committees.

  The Health Technology Board for Scotland is at present carrying out an assessment of Beta Interferon and Copaxone in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

NHS Funding

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, at the time of decisions regarding the allocation of the Health Department’s 1999-2000 end of year balance of £135 million, it considered allocating £200,000 to Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital to secure continuance of complementary treatments for cancer.

Susan Deacon: I understand that a weekly clinic continues to be provided at the hospital for complementary treatment for cancer sufferers and that this is funded out of existing resources.

  The end-year balance of £135 million, out of a total health budget of over £5,000 million, to which the member refers, comprises mainly continuing, committed NHS expenditure, reflecting sensible financial planning and management by health boards and NHS Trusts. The remainder is being spent on Executive-wide, health-related projects.

National Stadium

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will have a director on the board of the subsidiary company being set up by the Scottish Football Association to manage Hampden stadium.

Mr Sam Galbraith: No.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consulates and related buildings in Edinburgh have required protection from Lothian and Borders police annually since 1997.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally. I understand that there are currently 35 countries represented in Edinburgh of which 12 have designated consulates within self-contained buildings. The protection of consulates is an operational matter for the Chief Constable to determine.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which Executive Agencies other than Scottish Courts Administration receive the service of police officers in a security and administrative role free of charge, what level of service is provided and what the reasons are for it being free of charge.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why Scottish Courts Administration receives the provision of police officers for security and administration free of charge when other organisations such as airports are required to pay for this service.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally. However, police authorities have the power under the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 to enter into agreements with other parties for services provided by the police and to set the terms.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional finance it will make available to local authorities in order to meet any redundancy or other associated costs in the event that any local authorities lose contracts for management and maintenance of trunk roads and the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 do not apply.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive does not intend to make finance available to local authorities or private sector contractors to cover redundancy costs should they be unsuccessful in securing new contracts.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the maximum number of public sector jobs which could be lost as a consequence of the current tendering process relating to the management and maintenance of trunk roads.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive does not have such an estimate. The numbers of workers employed on the existing contracts for at least 40% of their time which have been disclosed by the existing contractors and councils is 1,272 public sector employees and 74 private sector employees.

Schools

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Executive is taking to ensure that local authorities maintain the network of rural schools.

Donald Dewar: All our policies for schools are directed towards ensuring that all children in rural areas benefit from school provision of the highest quality.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7646 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 19 June 2000, what role the Minister for Children and Education played in the monitoring process.

Mr Sam Galbraith: My officials kept me informed of the outcome of their discussions with SQA. I also met with David Miller and Ron Tuck, respectively the Chairman and former Chief Executive of the SQA, to discuss arrangements leading to the publication of results.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7646 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 19 June 2000, when the Minister for Children and Education first became aware that there were difficulties with the marking of exam papers by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Mr Sam Galbraith: As I explained in my statement to Parliament on 6 September, I became aware in June that SQA were having difficulty recruiting sufficient exam markers in some subjects.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the statement on 20 August 2000 by the Deputy Minister for Children and Education on the BBC Radio Scotland programme Eye to Eye that necessary resources would be made available applies only to this year’s situation in relation to examinations or also for subsequent years.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) have been offered additional resources to ensure the efficient running of the awards system on several occasions over the past year. The Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and I have asked our officials to discuss with SQA urgently their resource needs both for this and subsequent years.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Qualifications Authority used probationary teachers as markers for this years exams, whether it approved such measures, when it became aware of whether such measures were being taken and whether it considers that such measures should not be taken in future years.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The recruitment of markers is an operational issue for the Scottish Qualifications Authority and does not require approval by the Scottish Executive. As I said in my statement on 6 September, I was informed by SQA that they have now identified eight probationary teachers who were used as markers this year. The normal quality assurance checks had been applied to their work before the issue of examination results and this resulted in the performance of all of the markers being placed in the top two categories of quality used by SQA. I received all of that information last week. The independent inquiry which I have commissioned will look at recruitment of markers and will make recommendations about how procedures should operate in future.

Sexual Abuse

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to raise public awareness of, and to make provision for, the education of children regarding sexual abuse.

Mr Sam Galbraith: All education authorities in Scotland have guidelines and procedures for Child Protection to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people and to protect those adults working with them.

  Schools also play a part in the prevention of child abuse through the teaching they offer. Within the curriculum, health education, personal and social development and religious and moral education can all serve as vehicles for considering aspects of physical, social and emotional wellbeing. Schools should keep parents, carers and other agencies informed about school child protection policies and procedures and about the content of personal safety programmes.

  A Commitment to Protect - Supervising Sex Offenders in the Community recommended amongst other things that all education authorities should have in place a personal safety programme promoting pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding to assist them in living safely and feel empowered to reject inappropriate behaviour. Practical advice on this recommendation is being developed by the Expert Panel on Sex Offending chaired by Lady Cosgrove. We look forward to receiving the panel’s report in due course.

Sport

Mr Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5761 by Rhona Brankin on 13 April 2000, how work to take forward the role of sport in promoting social inclusion has progressed.

Rhona Brankin: Our aim is to harness new and existing resources to reap the full potential of sport in creating a more inclusive Scotland. One example is  sportscotland’s commitment to working with all 47 Social Inclusion Partnerships over the next three years to ensure there is a sports component in every Partnership area.

Voluntary Sector

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policies are for supporting the voluntary sector.

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive has an ambitious programme to work in partnership with the voluntary sector. We welcome the substantial and growing contribution that the sector makes to Scottish life and we have taken early action to establish the modern legal, financial, and infrastructure framework that will allow the voluntary sector to prosper and the social economy in Scotland to reach its full potential.

  We have implemented the Scottish Compact to improve the effectiveness of our relationship with the sector, and our funding of the sector, direct and indirect, stands at £300 million.

  We have also launched the Active Communities strategy, with a particular focus on excluded groups, to encourage volunteering and community participation.

Water Charges

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in helping low income households pay their water charges.

Sarah Boyack: The Executive is currently considering whether it can improve on the assistance provided to many low income households through the link between water and sewerage charges and council tax bands. I expect to publish a consultation paper on this shortly.

Water Charges

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make any representations to the water authorities in relation to the current review of the level of relief from water and wastewater charges granted to certain organisations and what its policy is on the continuation of such relief.

Sarah Boyack: The water authorities are conducting a consultation exercise on proposals to withdraw relief on water and sewerage charges from certain customers. The exercise follows my intervention last year to delay for one year the withdrawal of relief in a number of cases. As part of that intervention, I required any further proposals of this type to be the subject of consultation with all customers that might be affected. The current consultation exercise is in line with that requirement.

  Under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, the water authorities are required to endeavour not to show any undue preference or discrimination in respect of particular groups of customers. It is against this background that the authorities are conducting the present consultation exercise. The Executive believes that where reliefs are to be withdrawn, withdrawal should be phased to ease the immediate impact and those customers affected by withdrawal should be given sufficient warning so that they can make plans to meet increased bills.

Water Industry

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what directions and guidance it proposes to give to water authorities regarding tendering contracts for construction.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the bundling of contracts for water projects, what benefits this would have and what assessment has been made of the effect of bundling contracts on indigenous contractors.

Sarah Boyack: In common with all public bodies the water authorities are charged with operating procurement procedures which deliver value for money. Broadly all goods and services should be acquired by competition - section 4.5 of the finance section of The Scottish Water Authorities: Management and Financial Memoranda sets out the policy in more detail. There are no specific references to the bundling of contracts, to which the general principles apply, and there are no plans to make specific provision. A copy of the document is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliamentary Questions

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer why answered parliamentary questions are initially made available only on the Scottish Parliament Electronic Information Resource rather than on the main, publicly accessible, website.

Sir David Steel: There is no daily cut-off time by which answers to written questions have to be made and in practice most answers are received by the Chamber Desk at the end of the working day. It is then necessary for the Chamber Desk to group questions by subject matter for the daily written answers report, prior to sending the answers to the Central Distribution Office (CDO) so that they can appear on the website. In practice, therefore, the daily written answers report cannot appear on the website until the day after answers are received.

  Exceptionally, some answers are received by the Chamber Desk earlier in the day and these include answers through which the Executive chooses to make an announcement by means of an answer to a written question. In response to concerns that MSPs were not alerted to such announcements the day they are made, the Parliamentary Bureau agreed the current arrangement whereby written answers are placed on the Intranet (SPEIR) when they are received, enabling MSPs and their staff to have access to Executive announcements given in answers to parliamentary questions as soon as practically possible. This arrangement has given rise to some duplication of functions and parliamentary staff are reviewing current practice with a view to improving efficiency.